GM’s first fully electric Chevy pickup will offer an estimated 400-mile range when it’s delivered next year, with a base model arriving later at $39,900, the company confirmed with a reveal of the truck at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on Wednesday.
The truck was revealed in coordination with a keynote address from CEO Mary Barra at the show. Reservations for the electric truck will be open starting today, the automaker also announced.
The Silverado EV will be able to tow up to 10,000 pounds, with up to 1,300 pounds of payload. It’s built with the same “structural sandwich” approach as the GMC Hummer EV, with independent front and rear suspensions plus an adaptive air suspension that allows ride height to be raised or lowered two inches.
2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV
Instead of the Hummer EV’s Watts To Freedom (WTF) mode, the Silverado EV goes with Wide Open Watts (WOW) mode, enabling “up to 664 horsepower with more than 780 lb-ft of torque” from a two-motor system that pushes the truck from 0-60 mph in less than 4.5 seconds.
Fast-charging at up to 350 kw on 800 volts, as claimed by GM, would put the electric Silverado in the upper echelon of speedy DC charging, allowing the recovery of about 100 miles of range in just 10 minutes.
There will be at least two battery packs for the truck, but information so far has been sparse about smaller batteries. Based on hints from executives, expect the base battery to deliver a range of more than 200 miles but not more than 300 miles.
2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV
Just as pictures and teasers have hinted for the past nearly two years, the Silverado EV will tap into Chevy Avalanche heritage, offering a “midgate” that can essentially borrow some of the cabin space to expand the bed when needed.
The Silverado EV is roughly the same size as gasoline versions of the SIlverado, but it doesn’t follow exactly the same proportions. There’s a shorter overhang in front, and the front-end sculpting in particular is designed to push air around the body side rather than under the hood, and Chevy claims the Silverado EV WT will have one of the lowest drag coefficients of any production full-size pickup.
2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV
And there is a frunk. The eTrunk offers enough space for a large suitcase, or a range of accessory storage options yet to come. GM doesn’t have numbers yet.
Inside, the Silverado EV offers seating that’s good enough for those over six feet tall in the back seat, GM says. Just as in the Hummer EV, the Silverado EV has some “bold” animations—in this case, on a 17-inch center touchscreen infotainment screen, with an 11-inch driver display and a head-up display essentially taking the place of conventional gauges. The Silverado EV uses GM’s Ultifi software platform, allowing software updates and potentially, along the way, software-based feature upgrades.
2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV
2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV
2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV
The so-called Multi-Flex Midgate boosts the length of the 5-foot-11 bed to more than 9 feet when it’s open. And with the addition of a Multi-Flex Tailgate, the load floor is boosted to 10 feet, 10 inches. Both are included in the RST First Edition, along with a tonneau cover that has a fully lockable and weatherproof storage compartment.
Initially, two versions of the Silverado EV are to be offered—a very well-equipped RST First Edition and a fleet-oriented WT version. The RST First Edition will pile on the features, including four-wheel steering, the adaptive air suspension, and the so-called Multi-Flex Midgate. The WT won't offer the midgate.
When optioned up, the electric truck will offer a PowerBase system with up to 10 power outlets and a total of 10.2 kw of offboard power—a figure that beats Ford’s 9.6 kw. It also supports the charging of another EV, GM teased, although the company has announced no details yet of a coordinated home energy system such as will be offered with the F-150 Lightning.
2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV
For the top RST First Edition guise, the Silverado EV won’t be far below the Hummer EV’s $112,595 price in Edition 1 form. The RST First Edition starts at $105,000 plus destination. GM says that, as with the Hummer EV, versions will span the range from its $39,900 base price on up, but don’t expect those models to be available from the start.
GM says that first deliveries in spring 2023 will be made for a WT version with the largest-range battery, so be prepared for starting sticker prices somewhere in between.
The company also hasn’t provided any details on what kind of production volume it’s aiming for with the electric Chevy pickup. Ford earlier this week pushed its target for the F-150 Lightning to 150,000 annually, and then plans a new truck on a dedicated EV platform and a mid-decade arrival, for “incredibly high volume.”
The Silverado EV will be built alongside the Hummer EV at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant, which has been rebranded Factory Zero and tasked with EV production.
